2026-07-31 14:42:07
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CHAPTER 76
The silence stretched on for a while after Ivy said those words. Bianca stood by the window with her back half turned, and her shoulders were stiff in a way that showed the words had landed even though she’d never admit it.“You think you know everything right?” Bianca finally said, turning back to face her daughter. Her voice was quieter now, but something was still bubbling under it, something that hadn’t come out yet. “You sit there and judge me, comparing me to your father like that fixes anything, but you have no idea what it actually took to hold this family together while you were off building your career and jumping in and out of marriages.”“Don’t act like you were the only one holding things together,” Ivy said, folding her arms. “I built my career, Mom. Me. Not you.”“And who do you think opened those doors for you?” Bianca snapped. “Who made those introductions, sat through those dinners, smiled at those annoying board members so your name would even be considered? You thi
CHAPTER 75
“Everything I did, I did for you,” Bianca said again, slower this time, as though repeating it enough would somehow make it truer. “Only for you, Ivy. Never for myself. I need you to understand that.”“For me?” Ivy’s eyes narrowed, disbelief written plainly across her face. “You actually believe that, don’t you? You’ve said it so many times over the years that you’ve convinced yourself it’s true.”“Because it is true!” Bianca insisted, taking a step forward now, her hands gesturing emphatically. “I only ever wanted your life to be better. Better than mine ever was. Do you have any idea what I went through when your father left us? Do you have any idea what it felt like to raise you completely alone, scraping together whatever I could, watching other women with husbands and stability while I had nothing?”“I know the story, Mom,” Ivy said flatly. “You’ve told it to me a hundred times, but I don’t think it means what you think it means.”“And what is that supposed to mean?” Bianca shot
CHAPTER 74
“I’m not fit to be a mom?” Bianca’s voice climbed sharply, the earlier softness completely gone now. “After everything I’ve sacrificed for you, this is what you say to me?”“Sacrificed?” Ivy let out a short, humorless laugh, folding her arms as she stared her mother down. “What exactly did you sacrifice, Mom? Because from where I’m standing, all I remember is you making my life harder every single chance you got.”“That’s not true and you know it.”“Isn’t it?” Ivy took a step closer, her finger pointed accusingly. “You want to talk about sacrifice? Let’s talk about Kevin. Let’s really talk about him.”Bianca’s jaw tightened at the mention of the name. “What does Kevin have to do with anything right now?”“Everything, actually,” Ivy said, her eyes narrowing. “Do you remember what you used to do to him in this very house? You’d pour water across the floor right before he walked in, hoping he’d slip and embarrass himself. You did it laughing, Mom, like it was some kind of sport to you. Y
CHAPTER 73
Ivy hadn’t planned on visiting her mother again anytime soon after their explosive phone call weeks earlier, but when Bianca called that morning with a surprisingly softer tone, inviting her over for what she described as a genuine attempt to reconnect, Ivy found herself reluctantly agreeing despite everything that had happened between them.She sat in the back of the private car her mother had arranged for the trip, staring out the window as the familiar streets passed by, her stomach twisting slightly with a mixture of hope and wariness. Part of her genuinely wanted things to improve with her mother, wanted some kind of reconciliation after years of tension that had only grown worse since the scandal broke. Another part of her remained deeply suspicious, remembering all too clearly the harsh words Bianca had thrown at her during their last conversation.The driver pulled up outside her mother’s apartment building, and Ivy took a steadying breath before making her way inside, riding
CHAPTER 72
Marco returned to his mansion well past midnight, his body still buzzing faintly with the lingering adrenaline of the night’s chaos, though the celebratory mood that had once filled the underground chamber had long since evaporated entirely, replaced now by a tense, exhausted quiet that hung heavily throughout every corridor of his private estate.“Boss,” Fenris said, following closely behind him as they made their way through the mansion’s main entrance, “what do you want me to do about the men who didn’t make it back? And the ones still positioned throughout the city?”Marco waved a tired hand dismissively without turning to look at him. “End the party properly. Get everyone accounted for who’s still alive, and make sure the wounded receive whatever care they need discreetly. We’ll deal with everything else in the morning.”Fenris nodded, understanding the unspoken exhaustion carrying through Marco’s voice despite his attempt to maintain his usual commanding tone, and quietly excuse
CHAPTER 71
The battle had stretched on for nearly forty minutes now, and the toll on both sides had grown steadily more devastating with each passing exchange of gunfire, the street littered with spent shell casings, shattered glass, and the fallen bodies of men who would never rise again from where they’d been struck down.Half of the police officers who had originally responded to the scene now lay wounded or worse across the pavement, some crawling desperately toward whatever cover they could find, others simply lying motionless where they’d fallen, their fellow officers unable to reach them safely given the relentless gunfire still sweeping across the battlefield in waves.Marco crouched low behind his cover, breathing heavily now, sweat mixing with the adrenaline still coursing violently through his system as he surveyed the carnage spreading across the street before him. Several of his own men had fallen as well throughout the extended confrontation, though he refused to let himself dwell
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